Best of 2005 - new, old, on the fence, disappointing, and still to come

[NAD]

Yes, I am curious to hear the new Opeth - we all are, but of course, some will deny....

There's another one I want to hear, I hope they try some more repetition stuff like the end of the title track Deliverance, since that is a shining moment in my entire musical experience.

 

[Black Winter Day]

Yeah, I was blown away by that (BM-influenced Opeth). I'm not one of those people who hates latter-day Opeth, BTW; in fact, I thought BWP was a solid 8/10 album. I also thought that they got a bit lazy with Deliverance, but Damnation is decent enough. I wish they'd either start playing that 70s style prog that they love or move forward to more extreme stuff. They're too talented and too progressive to get stuck in a rut. If it isn't a rehash of MAYH-SL-BWP-Deliverance, it's almost guaranteed to be interesting.

I don't think I could be any more excited about an upcoming release than I am about the new Bruce. But like you said, how in the hell can he follow TCW???

Sigh haven't released an album in 4 years. That's way too fucking long.

What's the consensus on The Swan Road? Is it over 40 minutes this time???

And when is the new Moonsorrow coming out??? I put on "Kivenkantaja" the other day and it's better than I remembered it!



Sometimes I wish I didn't love music as much as I do...





...nah.

 

[Demilich]

Dude, don't even pass judgement yet. Listen to Pimea ("Dark", I think) and you'll explode with glee. It might take 3 or 4 spins to sink in, but DAAAAAYYUUUUMM

Ok, I'm sold on this album. At the beginning of Pimea I was thinking "these vocals sound above average, what the hell is Max talking about?" ... couple of minutes pass... "shit, there it goes!"

 

[Krilons Resa]

Tell me more, tell me more, look at me, a big whore.

review:

http://www.guypetersreviews.com/spiritcaravan.php

samples:

http://www.spiritcaravan.com/disco.html

 

[J.]

A new Sigh album would rock, but I hope they return to the HHH sound, and drop the psychadelic prog bullshit.

Opeth? Nah. I mean what is this? "We're gonna do a super-duper metal album and an acoustic album. And our next one will be black metal!" What is this genre jumping trend thing going on? Stupid. They died after Orchid. Fuck 'em.

Isn't there a new Hate Forest album coming?

 

[Demilich]

Isn't there a new Hate Forest album coming?

Yea.. "Sorrow", should be out soon according to the Supernal website, which isn't working for me right now. I think it was in March?

 

[MFJ]

Ok, I'm sold on this album. At the beginning of Pimea I was thinking "these vocals sound above average, what the hell is Max talking about?" ... couple of minutes pass... "shit, there it goes!"

Hahahaha, pwned.

 

[Black Winter Day]

Speaking of genre-jumping, J., why are you excited about a band that does black metal albums, ambient albums, and then a pagan-doom metal album?

 

[MFJ]

Ok, I'm sold on this album. At the beginning of Pimea I was thinking "these vocals sound above average, what the hell is Max talking about?" ... couple of minutes pass... "shit, there it goes!"

Shiiiiiiiit I still get HARDCORE goosebumps when I hear this! AMAZING!

 

[Demilich]

I think he meant that it's kinda dumb how Mikael talks up all these stylistic changes, and possibly that he doesn't really come through on them to the extent that the fans expect/desire.

 

[J.]

Speaking of genre-jumping, J., why are you excited about a band that does black metal albums, ambient albums, and then a pagan-doom metal album?

For the same reason people get excited about Burzum. Those three fit into a strong mold. Ambience and pagan feelings have been part of black metal for quite some time now. Burzum, Graveland, and some more bands I can't spell have been doing it more over a decade. Same with Hate Forest, though I don't really see Battlefields as being a doom album.

 

[J.]

I think he meant that it's kinda dumb how Mikael talks up all these stylistic changes, and possibly that he doesn't really come through on them to the extent that the fans expect/desire.

More or less, yeah. What's next? Opeth gone power metal?

 

[Black Winter Day]

I think he meant that it's kinda dumb how Mikael talks up all these stylistic changes, and possibly that he doesn't really come through on them to the extent that the fans expect/desire.

I think it's more of the style-changing itself that J. objects to... even though Hate Forest do it to a much greater extent than Opeth ever did/will.

 

[Black Winter Day]

For the same reason people get excited about Burzum. Those three fit into a strong mold. Ambience and pagan feelings have been part of black metal for quite some time now. Burzum, Graveland, and some more bands I can't spell have been doing it more over a decade. Same with Hate Forest, though I don't really see Battlefields as being a doom album.

"A strong mold"? Are death metal, acoustics and black metal really so different, then? Ask Empyrium. Or Enslaved. Or hell, even Akercocke.

 

[NAD]

Who the fuck cares what music a band chooses to play, when they choose to play it? Like every band could even fathom every individual fan's desire, ESPECIALLY in such a fickle world that metal is.

Either you like it or you don't, move on.

 

[Demilich]

More or less, yeah. What's next? Opeth gone power metal?

To be fair, they haven't diverged very much from their mould since they dropped the dual-lead harmonies. Sure, elements have come and gone, and each record has it's own atmosphere, but they seem to be falling into a rut where they write song after song based on the same tired dynamic. A bit of a one-trick-pony, maybe.

Orchid, by comparison, is a serious kick in the jewels!!

 

[J.]

I guess I don't see the style changes within HF as being as blatant as you do. They changed just as much over the years as Graveland and even Opeth. Some call it progression, others call it regression, but whatever.

But Graveland or HF have always remained black metal, whereas Opeth is jumping from progressive death metal (?) to black metal. Why? Are they seriously going to release a Norwegian black metal type album? Or is this just, "It's going to be Opeth with our acoustic/heavy/acoustic/heavy schtick, but with shrieky vocals and worse production"?

EDIT: We could go on all day on this tired old argument of Opeth sucking a fatty, and get no where at all. It just strikes me as a publicity type thing from a band who has clearly run out of ideas.

 

[Black Winter Day]

Why?

Because they want to?

Are they seriously going to release a Norwegian black metal type album? Or is this just, "It's going to be Opeth with our acoustic/heavy/acoustic/heavy schtick, but with shrieky vocals and worse production"?

Fuck if I know. But I'm interested in finding out.

 

[J.]

That's cool. I'll stick to real black metal bands.

 

[Demilich]

There's pretty much no chance of them pulling out a real BM album or anything close to it. I just don't think they have it in them! I mean, the only ones in the band who even listen to BM are Lopez and Mendez, pretty much. Mikael said something like "borderline black metal", and hopefully he meant that the intensity, speed and atmosphere will get kicked up a couple of notches, but don't expect the next Under a Funeral Moon!